100 Clicks – Shooting Our First Photography Project 366

PROJECT 366, THE FIRST 100 DAYS | Darrin Henry

It’s a bit like playing fetch with a young Border Collie; no matter how often or how far you throw the ball the dog will drop it back at your feet in a flash, demanding more. That’s how it feels shooting our first Photography Project 366 – it has its playful moments but there’s a pressure we hadn’t expected.

What Is A Photography Project 366

It might sound like the easiest thing to do, a Project 365 (or Photography Project 366 in a leap year), which means taking one (interesting) picture for each day of the whole year.

Photography Project 366 – Day 21, An abandoned toy car we found on the wall outside Longwood House helped turn a grey, overcast afternoon into a productive trip with the camera.

Day 1 was a doddle; we were raring to start. After seeing out 2015 on the town the night before, New Year’s Day pancakes was an easy and tempting way to get 2016 started – in more ways than one!

But on the second day, with grey, miserable skies outside and football on TV, the reality of the project began to kick in. Luckily a spider’s web that had caught the raindrops out on the balcony came to our rescue.

One Picture Every Day For 2016

Amazingly we’ve now completed the first 100 days, a milestone achieved on 9 April.

I get cold sweats from the possibility we might simply forget one day to take a picture. It would ruin the whole project, but it’s so easy to do. Sharon carries her smart phone everywhere (even though we aren’t connected to the mobile network) making use of the excellent built in camera. I have a new appreciation for camera phones and mobile photography.

Photography Project 366 – Day 59. Camera phones come into their own as a low profile accessory to capture impromtu, candid moments. The tip with these cameras is to shoot wide-angle, choose well lit scenes and hold the phone very steady.

Photography Project 366 – Day 44. We try to carry our compact with us whenever we can; its size has many advantages over the DSLR plus it’s waterproof. On Day 44 by chance we found ourselves watching kids swimming off the wharf in Jamestown. It was too good a picture opportunity to miss, so I stripped down to my shorts and jumped in! Good thing we had the compact in the bag.

Photographers all over the world attempt the Photography Project 366 (or 365) challenge every year. It’s a fun exercise and I guess the level of creativity in the daily offering is up to the individual.

Theoretically you could just point the camera out the window – ‘click’ – and you’re sorted for the day. But if you enter into the spirit of the challenge and have a genuine passion for photography, then there’s a real desire to come up with something fresh and interesting each day – and that’s where we are!

Ok, Let’s Be Honest About It

Using pictures captured from a different day is not an option for us; that would be cheating.

I know some photographers do this (some openly) but it defeats the whole concept of the 366 Project (or 365) as far as I’m concerned. It’s a bit like social media accounts that fake popularity by buying Likes or Followers. I would be embarrassed to tout success that I knew to be a false.

Hopefully we won’t miss our picture a day target, but if we do we’ll post a blank ‘no image’ graphic and see out the remainder of the year.

12 March 2016, 18:21 to 19:02 – 1/320 to 1/25, f/8, ISO-200What The Saints Did Next – 2016 Project 366Time-lapse photograph of High Knoll Fort on St Helena at sunset. This was our first attempt at this type of picture, all because of Project 366 and trying to create something different.

The ‘shoot quickly’ hour 🙂 Creating the time-lapse photograph of High Knoll Fort on Day 72 – behind the scenes.

On a few occasions we don’t upload until the next day. This is often a consequence of conserving our limited internet allowance when we’re already over our daily quota. People who live in world of unlimited, high speed broadband won’t understand what I’m on about!

All that said, we’ve had it easier than most as we’re working as a team.

We’ve been using the DSLR mostly, but the camera phones and our compact have been getting a good look in. In fact, in some instances, these smaller cameras have proved a more useful option than the DSLR.

The Best Thing About A Photography Project 366

There has been another big surprise with this project, a real positive one this time; it’s improved our photographic eye! Shooting a Photography Project 366 really pushes you to look at everyday life from a fresh standpoint and we’ve both benefitted enormously from these first 100 days.

Photographing still life has not normally been my strong point. Much like wildlife photography, the tediousness conflicts with my fidgety nature! But this project has definitely improved still life photography skills for both of us over the first quarter of 2016.

Photography Project 366 – Searching for inspiration on Day 32 the spice bottle tops suddenly became an attractive subject with their vibrant mix of colours. This was the simple setup to create the shot using a little diffused, off-camera filler flash controlled with a homemade gobo. Yes, it’s a cereal box!

I’ve used the macro lens more. I spent nearly an hour striking matches and trying to capture the moment of flare. The frustration was quickly forgotten when the surging spark and curling wisp of blue smoke appeared on the camera’s LCD screen – the perfect shot for Day 28.

Guess What Happened On St Helena in 2016

The project has also become a surprise diary of the year for us. On Day 9 Sharon photographed the wet swings on Longwood Green; for those who know St Helena, this foggy, wet weather in the middle of the afternoon in January was certainly unseasonal. This project makes sure we won’t forget it.

‘Navigate’11 Jan 2016, 11:54 – 1/400, f/9, ISO-200What The Saints Did Next – 2016 Project 366Hokule’a voyaging canoe navigating the globe by traditional stars and sun methods only – no modern technology. Here she is calling at St Helena on Day 11.

Hiking Diana’s Peak with the Gifford family from yacht Totem on Day 76; having a beer in Sandy Bay with a man called Sandy Bay on Day 50 and the Polynesian double-hulled voyaging canoe, Hokulea, visiting St Helena on Day 11 are now great memories from 2016 preserved in pictures.

So after the first 100 days that included matches, pancakes and dogs, we are now into our second, 100 days. Fingers crossed we don’t forget to click!

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We are husband and wife photographers, Darrin and Sharon Henry, sharing our passion for photography and story-telling.
This blog contains tutorials, travel adventures and model shoots, plus our favourite topic, real-people photo-stories. Great to have you visiting us today. Click our picture for more information about us.

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